Known ink priming arrangements for inkjet printheads using vacuum creation to set-up the required positive pressure at the nozzles of the printhead are complex and slow down production of the printheads.
A simplified priming arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,073. In this simplified arrangement, manual force is applied to the exterior of an ink bag to create positive pressure at the nozzles. The application of this force is continuously monitored, either manually or automatically, by determining whether ink is present in an ink level window. Once ink is present the application of the force is ceased. Whilst this provides a simplified arrangement, complexity still exists in the determination of when to stop applying the positive pressure force. This may also lead to an unacceptable amount of ink being wasted during priming, by too much being passed to nozzles before the determination is made.